MILFORD — The lawyer for the teenager accused of fatally stabbing Jonathan Law High School junior Maren Sanchez on Friday said he expects the youth to face a murder charge as an adult offender.
Bridgeport attorney Richard Meehan said on Saturday that the teen — identified by sources as Chris Plaskon of Milford — will not appear in juvenile court in New Haven on Monday and will remain at a medical facility, where he is being held on a “15-day emergency commitment.”
Meehan would not confirm the teen’s name.
Meehan said that after the commitment, which could last up to 15 days or fewer, the teen’s case will be transferred to Superior Court in Milford, where he will be charged as an adult. He said the teen is being evaluated but would not say what specifically he is being treated for by doctors.
Milford police Chief Keith Mello said the 16-year-old is in a medical facility under suicide watch.
Sanchez, 16, was stabbed to death in a school hallway on Friday morning, the day of the junior prom. Police are investigating whether Plaskon had wanted to take her to the junior prom.
Plaskon is now charged with murder as a juvenile offender.
Meehan said he could object to the transfer of the teen’s case to adult court but called such a legal move “an empty act,” since a judge’s decision will be based on Connecticut’s laws for serious juvenile offenders. The law says “the court shall automatically transfer from the docket for juvenile matters to the regular criminal docket of the Superior Court the case of any child charged with” murder.
“Such counsel may appear with the child but shall not be permitted to make any argument or file any motion in opposition to the transfer,” the law states.
A prosecutor can request that a transferred case return to juvenile court but such a move is unlikely when the charge is murder.
“We will be making the appropriate decisions on venue and how the case will proceed at the earliest on Monday,” State’s Attorney Kevin D. Lawlor said Saturday.
Meehan said the suspect’s family is devastated.